Susan Inglett is pleased to present the work of gallery artist Greg Smith from 19 April to 25 May 2012 in "Ners Banners Banners Ban". Through performance, film and drawing the artist examines compulsive behaviors and the role of risk in breaking cycles. A reception for the artist will be held Thursday evening 19 April from 6 to 8 PM.
A fragmented piece of looped text, “ners Banners Banners Ban,” serves as the title and starting point for Greg Smith’s fourth show with the Gallery, an exhibition with loops and repetitions at its core. Setting the stage, the obsessive, circular drawing series, “Things I Should Have Read,” covers plenty of ground, only to end where it began. Similarly structured in time rather than space, the video, aptly titled “Loop,” is presented as a continuous cycle that echoes the physical configuration of its subject: a loop of canvas banners that a tenuously harnessed performer repeatedly unfurls and circulates underneath an elevated highway.
According to the mythology both of art-making and of American identity, breaking free of the inertia wrought by repetition demands risk, which promises clarity and the prospect of something different. The video “Loop” complicates this scenario, questioning whether risky behavior guarantees escape and reward or simply makes the cycle more robust. With repeated risk comes the increased chance of failure. At the same time perhaps repeated risks allows for a deeper understanding of the behavior and an increased comfort with possible peril, while sustaining the promise and hope for change. We hope for the best, prepare for the worst, when the difference between the two is not always clear.
The exhibition will be on view at the gallery located at 522 West 24 Street Tuesday to Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM. For additional information please contact Susan Inglett Gallery at 212/647- 9111, fax 212/647-9333 or info@inglettgallery.com.